Disposable cleaning swab and holder therefor



Dec. 17, 1957 s. P. 13126Kl ETAL 2,816,312

DISPOSABLE CLEANING SWAB ANDHOLDER THEREFOR Filed NOV. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 )gal/7% v A TTORNEYS.'

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. P. BECK ET AL DIsPosABLE CLEANING swAB AND HOLDER THEREFOR Filed Nov. 3,` IQEJTTL- E i* lr,

u TJIZJEI. f2.7 11 b- Dec. 17, 1957 Y nited States DISPOSABLE CLEANING SWAB AND HOLDER THEREFOR Application November 9, 1951, Serial No. 255,651

16 Claims. (Cl. 15-210) The present invention relates to cleaning devices hav ing disposable cleaning elements and more particularly to devices suitable for cleaning toilet bowls and the like.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved cleaning swab, which can be firmly attached to a permanent holder for use as a mop in cleaning toilet bowls and the like, which can be easily removed from the holder and dropped into the bowl after use without the necessity of direct finger contact therewith, which is constructed to withstand disintegration or separation of its parts during a normal period of use but which will separate into parts easily tlushable in a toilet bowl after release from the holder, which lends itself to inexpensive manufacture on a mass production scale, and which pre sents a large cleaning surface in comparison to its bulk.

Another object is to provide a new and improved cleaning device including a cleaning swab and a holder therefor, constructed to permit the swab to be readily applied thereto and to cause the swab to be firmly retained thereon during a normal period of use; designed to give shape and bulk to the swab when in use and to afford an effective backing therefor in the cleaning operation; and provided with a swab retaining head of simple construction with no movable parts.

In accordance with certain features of the present invention, the cleaning swab comprises basically a composite pad having a filler sheet of soft desirably absorbent material which is easily disintegrable when wet and a thin flexible wrap sheet therefor disintegrable when wet but having a wet strength sufficient to prevent disintegration of said ller sheet in use. The iller sheet gives the necessary body to the pad for effective cleaning and the wrap sheet is arranged with respect to said filler sheet to serve as a padded wiper or scrubber. The composite pad so constructed is rolled into the form of a tube or sleeve and in this form is slipped over the head of a holder for cleaning use.

The holder head has annular projecting conformations desirably of helical shape to effect a more positive connection between said head and the soft, flexible, conformable walls of the tubular swab.

In an alternative form of swab embodying the present invention, a string is built into the swab to form a rib-like conformation thereon when the swab is slipped over the head of the holder. This rib-like conformation is adapted to catch on to a spiral convolution of the holder head, thereby serving to hold the swab more securely onto said holder head.

Various other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following particular description and from an inspection of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a face View of a flat composite cleaner pad in an intermediate stage of manufacture, comprising a ller sheet and a wrap sheet therefor and embodying cer tain features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section of the cleaner pad taken on lines -e-l of Fig. l;

atet

Fig. 3 is a face View of the pad but shown after the wrap sheet has been wrapped completely around the filler sheet to bring the opposite longitudinal margins of the wrap sheet in overlapping relationship and after these overlapping margins have been adhesively secured together;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the composite pad taken on lines 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section of a cleaner swab made by rolling the composite pad of Figs. 3 and 4 into the form of a sleeve and adhesively securing the opposite ends of the pad together;

Fig. 6 is a perspective of a holder for the cleaning swab of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective showing the cleaning swab of Fig. 5 attached to the head of the holder shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a face View of another form of fiat composite cleaner pad in an intermediate stage of manufacture, embodying certain features of the present invention and including built-in strings for forming ribs when the pad is rolled into sleeve form and when the resulting swab is impaled upon the holder head;

Fig. 9 is a section of the pad taken on lines 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. l0 is a face view of the pad illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, but shown after the wrap sheet has been wrapped completely around the filler sheet to bring the opposite longitudinal margins of the wrap sheet in overlapping relationship and after these overlapping margins have been adhesively secured together;

Fig. ll is a transverse section of the composite pad taken on lines 11--11 of Fig. l0;

Fig. l2 is a transverse section of a cleaner swab made by rolling the composite pad of Figs. l0 and 1l into the form of a sleeve and adhesively securing the opposite ends of the pad together; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary perspective showing the cleaning swab of Fig. 12 attached to the head of the holder shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. l to 4 of the drawings, the cleaner swab is constructed from a fiat composite pad 10 made up of a filler 11 in the form of a fiat flexible mat or sheet and a flexible paper wrap sheet l2 therefor. The filler mat 11 serves as the padding for the swab and is desirably of soft material to yield into conformance with irregularities in the surfaces being cleaned and must have sutiicient body to permit sustained effective cleaning. Moreover, it should be made of a material which is at least readily liushable in a toilet bowl, so that it will not clog the plumbing. For that reason, the filler mat 11 is made of an absorbent material readily disintegrable when wet and consists essentially of a relatively thick sheet or layer of fluffy particulate material which is desirably macerated cellulose, such as wood pulp, molded or pressed in flat rectangular form. ln a specific form, the filler sheet 11 may be l() inches long, 2% inches wide and about 1A inch thick.

As far as certain aspects of the invention are concerned, instead of wood pulp the filler may consist of a number of thin facial tissues arranged in a stack to form a padding mat for the swab.

The wrap sheet 12 is desirably of thin exible paper easily liushable in a toilet bowl but nevertheless rugged and strong enough to withstand cleaning or scrubbing pressure during use. To that end, the wrap sheet 3.2 has a wet strength high enough to permit it to withstand disintegration during a normal period of use but low enough to cause it to decompose and reduce to fragments for ready drainage after that period. The ller 11 has a tendency to disintegrate mach faster. bntits disintegration 3 is retarded by the protective enveloping action of the more resistant wrap sheet 12.

The filler mat 11 is in at rectangular form and the wrap sheet 12 is rectangular and wide enough to permit the longitudinal margins of the sheet to be folded over the mat and brought together in overlapping relationship. The wrap sheet 12 is longer than the filler mat 11 so that the ends 13 of said sheet extend beyond the ends of the filler mat.

In an intermediate stage of manufacture, the filler mat 11 is placed centrally on the wrap sheet 12, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the longitudinal margins of the wrap sheet are folded over the filler mat to bring these margins in overlapping relationship and to form a lap seam 15 thereby. These overlapping sections of the wrap sheet 12 are secured together by water disintegrable means in the form of a water soluble adhesive to form the coniposite pad shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The adhesive may, for example, be cornstarch but any other adhesive weakening as the result of the action of water thereon may be ernployed, as for instance, methyl cellulose, carboxyethyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, casein, glue and any other water-soluble agglutinant.

The composite pad of Figs. 3 and 4 is rolled with the seam of the wrap sheet 12 on the inside and the opposed ends of the pad are secured together to produce a cleaning swab 16 in the form of a substantially cylindrical sleeve, as shown in Fig. 5. The ends of the pad may be secured together in any suitable manner. For example, the ends 13 of the wrap sheet 12 projecting beyond the corresponding ends of the ller Amat 11 may be folded radially inwardly and secured together face to face by water soluble o-r disintegrable adhesive of the type referred to in the making of the seam 15 on the wrap sheet 12, to form the sleeve swab 16 shown in Fig. 5. The extent of inward radial projection of the ends of the wrap sheet 12 where they are joined together is too small to interfere with the entry of the head of an appropriate holder into the sleeve swab.

In an alternative form of construction (not shown), the projecting ends 13 of the wrap sheet 12 in the flat composite pad are crimped on one face near the corresponding end of the filler mat 11, so that one end 13 is displaced into position ush with one face of the pad body and the other end is displaced into position ush with the other face of the pad body. In the formation of the sleeve swab, the pad is rolled and the ends of the pad body brought together to form a butt joint, while the projecting ends 13 of the wrap sheet 12 are arranged with one sheet end overlapping the outer periphery of the rolled pad body and the other sheet end overlapping the inner periphery of the rolled pad body. In this rolled position, the contacting and overlapping parts of the pad body and pad ends are adhesively secured together by a water disintegrable adhesive.

The wrap sheet 12 of the cleaning swab inthe construction shown may be impregnated with an appropriate detergent, coated with a suitable foaming agent and treated with a water soluble bluing dye similar to that used for laundry purposes, to within the surfaces cleaned by the swab of the present invention. The wrap sheet 12 may also contain a suitable disinfectant, a scouring agent such as pumice, and a perfume.

In the rolled sleeve form of swab shown, the wrap sheet 12 will be on the outside to dene `a scrub sheet and the ller mat 11 will be on the inside to form a lining or back ing for the scrub sheet, it being noted that said ller mat is entirely enclosed and protected against separation from the wrap sheet as well as against disintegration.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a type of holder 20 which is advantageously employed in connection with the swab 16 and which is desirably of plastic material such as polystyrene. This holder has a head 21 adapted to be slipped into the swab- 16 yfor cleaningus, anda handle or shank 22 terminating in a grip portion 23.

The holder head 21 is formed with a series of spaced annular projecting convolutions to bend and fold parts of the swab walls radially inwardly between successive convolutions and into catch engagement therewith when said head is slipped into a tight swab. In the specific form shown, the holder head 21 is in the form of a single or multiple screw having a helical convolution or thread with the crown of this convolution rounded olf to facilitate entry of said head into the swab and to permit the molding of the flexible or yieldable wall of the swab more easily into engaging conformance with said convolution. The holder head is thus adapted to fit tightly into the hollow of the sleeve swab 16 and to hold the swab firmly thereon until it is ready to be discarded, as shown in Fig. 7. The attachment of the cleaner swab 16 onto the holder head 21 can be facilitated by rotating these parts relatively to each other while the swab is being pressed axially on to the holder head.

The holder 20 and the swab 16 attached thereto form a cleaning device which can be conveniently handled. For example, in cleaning a toilet bowl, the swab 16 is dipped into the water in said bowl to render the detergents on the wrap sheet 12 active and to dissolve the bluing thereon. The cleaning can then be effected by passing the swab 16 over the surfaces to be cleaned. Under these conditions, the wrap sheet 12 presents an effective rubbing or scrubbing surface and the tiller mat 11 supplies the necessary body to the swab 16 and also permits it to be deformed to conform with irregularities in the surfaces being cleaned. The wrap sheet 12, being able to withstand disintegration during a normal period of use, protects the ller mat 11 against disintegration during that period.

The holder head 21 constitutes the bulk of the cleaning element and affords the necessary backing and support for the thin walled swab 16, so that substantial pressure can be supplied to the swab through the holder, while the swab retains its general form.

After the cleaning has been completed, the swab 16 is slipped off the holder head 21 without the necessity of directly fingering it. The removal of the spent swab 16 can be effected, for example, by shouldering the swab against the rim of the toilet bowl and pulling the holder 20 away. This causes the swab 16 to slip off or to be stripped oif the holder head 20 and to drop into the bowl. Furthermore, action of the water on the swab 16 dissolves the adhesive along the adjoining ends of the pad forming the swab and ralso along the longitudinal seam 15, so that the scrub sheet 12 opens up while it is disintegrating. This allows disintegration of the filler mat 11 by the action of the water thereon, permitting said mat as well as the wrap sheet 12 to be flushed and drained away in the toilet bowl without -clogging the pipes.

Figs. 8 to 13 illustrate still another form of the sleeve swab 16a made from a composite pad which is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 7, but which in addition has an mternal built-in string construction serving to form reenforcing ribs for more secure engagement thereof with the spiral head 21 of the holder 20. The built-in string construction herein shown comprises two parallel strings 25 laid along the wrap sheet 12 between said sheet and the filler mat 11, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and retained in position by friction or if desired by adhesive. These strings 25 may be made of any suitable fibrous natural material, such as cotton, silk or linen, or if desired of synthetic material such as rayon or nylon.

The assemblage illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 is folded as shown in Figs. 10 and l1 with the longitudinal margins of the wrap sheet 12 secured together in overlapping relationship to form a wrapped pad similar to that indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. The resulting pad is then rolled and the opposite ends 13 of the wrap sheet 12 projecting beyond the ends of the ller sheet 11 are brought together and secured in face to face contact by a water soluble or disintegrable adhesive of the type indicated in connection with the swab construction of Figs. 1 to 4 to form the sleeve swab 16a shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

The strings 25 in the sleeve swab 16a will be in the general form of rings extending circumferentially along the inner periphery of the wrap sheet 12 and holding the sections of the swab in the respective transverse planes of the rings against radially outward expansion resulting from the pressure action of the spiral holder head 21 thereon, while the intermediate sections of the swab between these rings and the end sections beyond these rings are permitted to a limited extent to expand radially outwardly by the pressure action of the holder head. This holder head 2l is large enough to fit tightly in the hollow of the sleeve swab 16a, as shown in Fig. 13, so that the intermediate sections of the swab between the strings 25 and the end sections beyond these strings bulge radially outwardly, causing the sections of the swab in the planes of the strings to form radially inwardly extending ribs which catch on to the spiral convolution or convolutions of said head and serve thereby to hold the swab 16a' firmly on to said head during normal use. After use, the swab 16a can be removed from the holder head 21 and discarded in the toilet bowl in the manner described in connection with the constructions of Figs. l to 7.

In t-he specifi-c form of holder 20 shown, the head 21 is of solid construction and has the axis of its screw conformation extending lengthwise or substantially coaxial of its handle portion 22. However, as far as certain aspects of the invention are concerned, the head of the holder may be in the form of a wire spirally bent with its axis extending lengthwise of its handle portion or if desired at 90 thereto. Moreover, the screw head instead of being generally in circular cross-section or contour as shown, may as far as certain aspects of the invention are concerned be generally at, oval or elliptical in cross-section or contour in a plane at right angles to its axis.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to specific embodiments of swab and holder, it is to be understood that it is not to be limited thereto but is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A disposable cleaning swab ushable after use in a toilet bowl and adapted to be applied to the head of a holder having a swab securing projection thereon comprising a tlat composite pad having a ller sheet of soft water disintegrable material and a thin flexible wrapper therefor lining oposite faces of the filler sheet and made of paper possessing sufficient wet strength to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use, said pad having its opposed ends secured together to form a hollow tubular swab with the wrapper on the outside defining a scrub surface, said pad being secured together at its opposite ends through the connection of opposed sections of said wrapper at said ends and being soft enough to yield into positive engagement with the projection on the holder to cause the swab to be retained on said holder head during the normal periods of use.

2. A disposable cleaning swab as described in claim 1, wherein the wrapper not only lines opposite faces of the filler sheet but all the edges thereof, whereby the filler sheet is entirely enclosed in the wrapper.

3. A disposable cleaning swab as described in claim l, wherein the wrapper consists of a single sheet of paper and lines not only opposite faces of the ller sheet but all the edges thereof, whereby the ller sheet is entirely enclosed in the wrapper.

4. A disposable cleaning swab ilushable after use in a toilet bowl comprising a composite pad having a filler sheet of soft material easily disintegrable when wet and a wrap sheet therefor made of paper having sufficient wet strength to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use, the wrap sheet being wider and longer than the filler sheet and having its longitudinal margin folded over the filler sheet and its ends projecting beyond the corresponding ends of said filler sheet, the pad being rolled with the marginal folds on the inside and the projecting ends of the wrap sheet being secured together to form a oq o; paidepe uioq qelns ptas qe/ns @mais popped Mojjoq -ol qta/ns urmaq peau lepton a o1 @dans porro: ur porjdde taining projection means thereon, said swab being soft enough to yield into positive engagement with the projection means to cause the swab to be retained on the head during a normal period of use.

5. A disposable cleaning swab as defined in claim 4 wherein the wrap sheet is wide enough to cause its longitudinal margins folded over the ller sheet to be brought together in overlapping relation, and wherein these overlapping sheet margins are secured together with an adhesive disintegrable in the presence of water and the projecting ends of the wrap sheet are secured together with an adhesive disintegrable in the presence of water.

6. A disposable cleaning swab tlushable after use in a toilet bowl comprising a at composite pad consisting solely of a ller sheet of soft water disintegrable material and a thin flexible wrap sheet therefor made of paper possessing sutiicient wet strength to maintain its integrity during normal period of use, and having its opposite ends projecting beyond the ends of the ller sheet, said pad having its opposed ends brought together and the projecting wrap sheet ends secured together to form a hollow tubular swab with the wrap sheet on the outside and detining a scrub surface and the hollow in said swab serving to receive the head of a holder, said swab being soft enough to yield into positive engagement with projection means on the holder to cause said swab to be retained on said holder head during a normal period of use.

7. A disposable cleaning swab for a toilet bowl and the like in the form of a hollow sleeve made of soft flexible easily ushable material and completely enclosing an annular built-in string extending around its axis and adapted to form an inwardly projecting rib-like conformation when impaled on the head of a holder to catch onto a projection on the holder head and hold the swab thereon.

8. A disposable cleaning swab for a toilet bowl or the like in the form of a hollow sleeve made of soft flexible easily flushable material and completely enclosing a pair of axially spaced built-in annular strings extending around the axis of the swab and adapted to form respective inwardly projecting rib-like conformations when impaled on the head of a holder to catch onto a projection on the holder head and hold the swab thereon.

9. A disposable cleaning swab flushable after use in a toilet bowl, said swab being of hollow tubular shape to receive the head of a holder and having an internal padding of material disintegrable when wet, an outer wrap sheet therefor of a material possessing sulicient wet strength to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use, and a built-in string completely enclosed by the outer wrap sheet and adapted to form an inwardly projecting rib-like conformation when impaled on the holder head to catch onto a projection on the holder head and hold the swab thereon.

l0. A disposable cleaning swab in the form of a hollow sleeve flushable after use in a toilet bowl, said swab being adapted to receive the head of a holder and having an internal padding of material disintegrable when wet, an outer wrap sheet of material having sufficient wet strength to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use, and a built-in annular string completely enclosed by the outer wrap sheet and extending around the axis of the sleeve and adapted to form an inwardly projecting annular rib when said sleeve is impaled on the holder head to catch onto a projection on the holder head and hold the sleeve thereon.

l1. A disposable cleaning swab in the form of a hollow sleeve flushable after use in a toilet bowl, said swab being adapted to receive the head of a holder and being made from a composite pad comprising a filler sheet of soft material easily disintegrable when wet and a wrap sheet therefor made of material possessing suicient wet strength to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use, and a string extending along the pad between the ller sheet and the wrap sheet, the ends of the pad being secured together to form the sleeve swab with the wrap sheet covering the entire periphery of the swab, said string extending in the form of an annulus around the axis of the savio along the inner of the wrap sheet and delining thereby an inwardly projecting rib-like catch conformation when the swab is impaled tightly on the holder head to hold the swab thereon.

12. A disposable cleaning swab in the form of a hollow sleeve ushable after use in a toilet bowl, said swab being adapted to receive the head of a holder and being made from a composite pad comprising a ller sheet of soft material disintegrable when wet and a wrap sheet therefor made of material having a wet strength sucient to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use, the wrap sheet being wider than the filler sheet and having its longitudinal margins folded over the ller sheet and secured together in overlapping relationship by an adhesive disintegrable in the presence of water, and a pair of spaced parallel strings extending along the pad between the ller sheet and the wrap sheet, the ends of the pad being secured together by an adhesive disintegrable when wet to form the sleeve swab with the folded margins of the wrap sheet on the inside, said strings extending in the form of respective annuli around the axis of the swab along the inner face of the wrap sheet and defining thereby inwardly projecting rib-like catch conformations when the swab is impaled tightly on the holder head to hold the swab thereon.

13. A cleaning device for use in connection with a toilet bowl and the like comprising, in combination, a holder having a head with a swab holding projection, and a disposable swab in the form of a hollow tube slippable over said head and comprising an inner ller sheet of soft water disintegrable material and an outer thin flexible wrap sheet therefor made of paper possessing suicient Wet strength to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use but low enough to cause it to disintegrate after such period, said swab being sufficiently soft to yield easily into positive engagement with said projection to cause said swab to be retained on said holder head during a normal period of use.

14. A cleaning device as defined in claim 13, the holder having a spiral head for receiving the swab.

15. A cleaning device comprising, in combination, a holder having a spiral head, and a disposable cleaning swab for a toilet bowl and the like in the form of a hollow sleeve adapted to be slipped over said holder head for use and made of soft flexible easily ushable material, said swab completely enclosing a pair of axially spaced builtin annular strings extending around the axis of the swab and adapted to form respective rib-like conformations projecting inwardly into engagement with the spiral convolutions of said holder head when said holder head is fitted into said swab to attach rmly said swab onto said holder head.'

16. A Acleaning device for use in connection with a toilet bowl and the like comprising, in combination, a holder having a head vwith spaced annular projections separated by recesses, and a disposable swab in the form of a hollow tube slippable over said head and comprising an inner filler sheet of soft water disintegrable material and an outer thin flexible .s'rap therefor made of paper possessing sufficient wet strength to maintain its integrity during the normal period of use but low enough to cause it to disintegrate after such period, said swab having one or more axially spaced annular strings built therein 'and extending around the axis of the swab along the inner face of the outer wrap sheet, said strings being adapted to form respective rib-like conformations adapted to extend radially inwardly to engage the projections of the holder head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

